The tranquillity of the lake scene is contradicted by the following sequence of warships bombing and scorching the landscape. Howl returns home, where Calcifer warns of spending too long fighting. Howl relays details of the conflict and the other wizards who have turned evil for the King. He broods that they won't remember what being a human is after the war. Hayao Miyazaki makes repeated allusions to the futility of war and its damage on humanity and nature.

The tranquillity of the lake scene is contradicted by the following sequence of warships bombing and scorching the landscape. Howl returns home, where Calcifer warns of spending too long fighting. Howl relays details of the conflict and the other wizards who have turned evil for the King. He broods that they won't remember what being a human is after the war. Hayao Miyazaki makes repeated allusions to the futility of war and its damage on humanity and nature.